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Flexible solar panels allow for the generation of solar power where traditional, glass panels can't be used. For example, large commercial rooftops may not be able to support the load of a large, glass array.

The Cedar Point Wind Energy Project provides approximately 875,000 MWh which corresponds to the annual consumption of about 80,000 Colorado homes. The Crossroads Energy Project provides approximately 924,307 MWh which corresponds to the annual consumption of about 70,000 homes.

The California Public Utilities Commission and NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) have entered into an agreement where NRG will build a comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) charging network in California, investing approximately $100 million over the next four years.
"And we will be helping the State meet its clean car goals as embodied by its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate."
This fee-based charging network will consist of at least 200 publicly available fast-charging stations—installed in the San Francisco Bay area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin and San Diego County—which can add 50 miles of range in less than 15 minutes of charging. Additionally, NRG's EV infrastructure commitment will include the wiring for at least 10,000 individual charging stations located at homes, offices, multifamily communities, schools and hospitals located across the State.
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Global PV cell production grew to an impressive 37.2 GW in 2011, according to a market survey by PHOTON International - The Solar Power Magazine, for a 36-percent increase over the 27.4 GW produced in 2010.
But the annual survey also reveals a dramatic reduction in year-on-year growth. Compared to a record 120-percent jump in 2010, the 2011 cell output was the PV industry's lowest growth rate since a 34-percent increase in 2003. The survey also shows a continuation of Asian dominance, with six Chinese manufacturers in the top 10 - with Suntech Power in first place for the second year in a row - and two from Taiwan. For the first time since PHOTON International began surveying solar cell producers, the top 10 did not include any solar cell producers from Europe or Japan.
"The days of solar cell production in western countries are numbered," says Michael Schmela, editor-in-chief of PHOTON International. "Like other commodities, solar cell production will continue its rapid shift to low-labor-cost countries in Asia, especially China." In 2008, only 33 percent of solar cells were made in China, a share that grew to an impressive over 57 percent in 2011.
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In an effort to find a visual counterpart to his rhetoric on energy, President Barack Obama is speaking at four types of energy production facilities in two days, each site representing a facet of his energy plan.
"I'll be talking about what we're calling an all-of-the-above energy strategy -- all of the above," Obama said, previewing his trip before a crowd gathered at a solar facility in Boulder City, Nevada. "A strategy that relies on producing more oil and gas here in America, but also more biofuels, more fuel-efficient cars, more wind power and, as you can see, a whole lot more solar power."
The visit to Boulder City on Wednesday was designed to tout the success of solar technology at the largest photovoltaic solar facility in the nation. Photovoltaic solar panels create energy directly from sunlight without the need for any water or moving parts.
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President Barack Obama's administration is expected to throw its weight behind U.S. solar panel producers on Tuesday in their battle against lower-priced imports from China that they say threaten the future of the industry in the United States.
A coalition of seven U.S. manufacturers has asked for duties topping 100 percent on Chinese-made solar cells and panels, which they say are subsidized by the Chinese government and "dumped" in the United States at unfairly low prices.
The case, which was filed last year, has created more friction in the U.S.-China trade relationship, already strained by clashes over Beijing's currency policies and U.S. duties on a number of other Chinese goods.
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The U.S. Senate has voted to reject an amendment to S.1813, the Surface Transportation Bill, that would have extended several important renewable energy incentives - including the production tax credit (PTC) for wind power - for one year.
The measure, introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., also called for an extension of the Section 48C advanced energy manufacturing tax credit, which expired in 2010, as well as an extension of the Section 1603 cash-grant program.
Although the vote on the measure was even at 49-49, the amendment required 60 votes to pass, and was, therefore, not agreed to. The news comes as a disappointment to the wind industry, which was hoping for a boon in an uncertain economic climate.
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The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal that would extend renewable energy tax incentives and restore the cash grant program that saved the industry during the depths of the recession.
The proposals are included in an amendment offered by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who introduced Senate Amendment 1812, which would extend the production tax credit (PTC) for one year, until the end of 2013, as well as extend the 1603 investment tax credit, the 48(C) manufacturing tax credit, in addition to including biodiesel and other provisions.
Amendment 1812 includes several provisions, including credits for biofuels and advanced manufacturing tax breaks. But the parts of most interest to renewables are a one-year extension of the PTC for wind energy and a restoration of the “cash grants in lieu of the credit” which expired at the end of last year.

Fewer solar panels will be installed this year as the first drop in more than a decade worsens a glut of the unsold devices that’s already slashed margins at the top five manufacturers, an analyst survey showed.
Homes and businesses will put up 24.8 gigawatts of solar panels worldwide, according to the average of six forecasts compiled by Bloomberg News. That’s equal to the power of about 20 nuclear reactors and down 10 percent from the 27.7 gigawatts added last year. Installations have grown 61 percent a year on average since 1999, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates.
The decline would be the first since Germany began offering premium rates for solar power in 2004, opening the way for mass, utility-scale installations. It will exacerbate price-cutting and a surge in inventories that last year forced Solyndra LLC into bankruptcy, prompted SunPower Corp. to seek a buyout and gutted margins at top manufacturers led by Suntech Power Holdings Co. and First Solar Inc.
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This February, a record 21.7 percent of Spain’s electricity came from wind power. The 4,890 gigawatt-hours of electricity generated from wind made it the country’s third-largest source of energy in the month, after coal and nuclear power plants, according to Red Eléctrica de España (REE).
Although Spain has poured signficant money, in the form of feed-in tariffs, into solar power development, Europe has been experiencing a severely cold winter, where wind power can thrive. By using its wind turbines instead of fossil fuels to supply electricity, Spanish electricity prices fell to €51/MWh during the first two weeks of February while in neighboring France electricity cost €105/MWh. During that time, wind provided a whopping 28.9 percent of Spain’s electricity.
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Facing a significant backlog of unsold inventory, General Motors will shut down production of the Chevrolet Volt for five weeks.
The maker has notified 1,300 workers at the GM plant in Detroit that they will be idled from March 19 through April 23 while assembly operations are idled. But the maker insists the latest setback is not a sign of long-term problems for the plug-in hybrid, noting that Volt sales in February jumped 70 percent over the prior month.
“We’re going to do what we need to the keep production in line with what the market demands,” said GM spokesperson Michelle Malcho.
She noted that demand has been recovering in the wake of reports, late last year, that several Volt battery packs had caught fire following federal crash tests.
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